In an award dated July 30, 2015 [1] (“CSDCEO Award”), Arbitrator Rowan held that the 97-day delay in salary grid movement for teachers, imposed in various teacher collective agreements by a centrally agreed Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), was subject to the statutory freeze in the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (the “LRA”). Therefore, the provision could not…
Industry: School Boards
School Board Management Conference
Our School Board Conference will cover a wide variety of topics relevant to Directors of Education, Trustees, Supervisory Officers and Human Resources Practitioners. We will take you first on a “whirlwind tour” of recent developments in labour, employment and education law. This will be followed by a plenary session on critical issues concerning the changing landscape in school board collective bargaining. Following a buffet lunch, we will invite you to attend two afternoon workshops of your choice.
School Boards
School boards have faced a monumental change with the move to a tri-party central bargaining structure that now runs in parallel with local bargaining. This is a significant departure from how collective bargaining has historically occurred in the sector—with a number of challenges as parties work through the new system. Hicks Morley has been at…
Education Today Publishes an Article Authored by Michael Hines
Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines authored an article in the Summer 2015 edition of Education Today entitled, “School Closures: Some Common Questions Answered”. The article highlights six commonly asked questions about the legal challenges that schools face when making decisions about school closures, while providing clarification and best practices for each. Michael states that “Ontario courts…
OSSTF Found to Have Engaged in Unlawful Local Strikes
In its decision released on May 26, 2015, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “OLRB”) ruled that the ongoing Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (“OSSTF”) teacher strikes occurring at the Durham, Peel and Rainbow District School Boards were unlawful. This conclusion was reached on the basis that the scheme of the School Boards Collective Bargaining…
Province Introduces Back-to-Work Legislation
On May 25, 2015, the Ontario government introduced Bill 103, the Protecting the School Year Act, 2015. Bill 103 is back-to-work legislation intended to bring an end to ongoing strikes at three school boards – the Durham District School Board, the Peel District School Board and the Rainbow District School Board (collectively, the “School Boards”)….
Michael Hines Quoted in the Toronto Star
Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines was quoted in a May 20, 2015 Toronto Star article entitled “New bargaining law unclear on teacher strikes, hearing told“. The article refers to a ruling on whether three Ontario high school strikes are illegal, based on a new law that does not seem to clearly ban local strikes over centrally…
HRTO Clarifies the Scope of Employer and Service Provider Code Obligations
Two recent decisions from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) provide helpful guidance on the scope of employer and service provider obligations under the Human Rights Code (“Code”), including the proper scope of the duty to accommodate and the question of who may bring a Code application. In this FTR Now, we review these…
Webcast: Coping with Violent Behaviours in the Classroom: Safety Issues for Staff and other Students in the Special Education Context
Complimentary This webcast responds to a number of requests following our last webcast, After Keewatin: The Use of Exclusions, and reflects the reality that there are increasing numbers of students whose disabilities give rise to violent outbursts and that this phenomenon is a growing challenge for special educators and for administration. We will review the…
After Keewatin: The Use of Exclusions
Overview In a recent case, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario served clear notice that excluding a student under s. 265(m) of the Education Act, because of behavioural issues arising from the student’s disability, must not offend human rights principles. In R.B. v. Keewatin Patricia District School Board, the Tribunal found that the exclusion of…